Authors Note:
Though I had absolutely no reviews, I'll give myself a break because it was one day. At any rate, if you want me to keep making chapters, unfortunately, you're going to have to review on it. I get paranoid. XD Have fun reading, enjoy!
I lay my hand on my fore-head like a salute, and looked around. The sun was burning down on this huge desert-land and I felt my cheeks turning pink. Squinting my eyes, I tried to make out a small shadow, walking towards me, slowly, as if he was sick. My heart beat pounded with hope and I dashed towards it, but it never grew any more visible and almost instantly I ran right through it and it dissipated like fog. Stumbling to catch my balance, as I'd been running to hug the person, I grabbed my water bottle and dumped the last drop on my bone-dry tongue. I peered into the water bottle, hoping I was so thirsty that I hadn't felt the water dousing my tongue, but as I looked in, it looked like someone had dropped a match in it. "Where am I?" I whispered, having never been here before.
Naruto's P.O.V
I closed my eyes, leaning back in a small tree. Really, you could hardly say I was in it, more like sitting on it's branch because it was only up to my shoulder. The shade was heavenly but my stomach growled at me whenever I passed by a small, unripe, mango, like it was saying, "eat it! I don't care what it is!" But I couldn't, I'd learned better than that from Sasuke, who usually knew what he was talking about. Speaking of Sasuke... I wonder what he's doing. I got up and slammed my foot into the trunk of the tree, causing a few leaves to flutter to the ground. "I miss you Sasuke." It was too late, I'd made my mistakes and now I couldn't turn back. Closing my eyes, I thought back to how angry he was when I told him I'd be leaving. "Do you miss me, Sasuke?" I whispered, watching the last, smallest leaf hit the ground and land in a small puddle of mud. Mud. That meant water!
I spun around, wandering around In circles to find the water and it took almost the entire day for me to hear a small rustling of a river. Rivers mean both fish and water. My mind was wiped clean of Sasuke, like he was a figment of my imagination and I'd matured out of his existence, while I rushed out into the open, to see the most beautiful river I'd seen in a lifetime of traveling. A huge grin grew on my face and I leapt into the glistening water, drinking, bathing and attempting to catch the fish with my hands, when suddenly I froze. Slowly, out of curiosity, I glanced up and felt tears well in my eyes. It was that same cliff, the one Sasuke had sent me down from to gather fish when we were in the forest. I wasn't too far away from home, I already knew that, but I wasn't planning on turning back no matter what showed up. Blinking the tears away, I found a sharp stick on the bank of the river and stabbed it right through a trout that was attempting to get past my legs so it could swim away.
I had a great dinner tonight, but now it's time to sleep. Since I was walking every day, I didn't exactly have a tent with me, who would? So, I slid into a tree, taller this time, and curled up in a ball to sleep.
Sasuke's P.O.V
It was starting to get dark by the time I reached a tree. I'd been walking since dawn through this hot desert and already I was overjoyed to have my jacket with me. Even with the jacket, I was shivering, and needed a place to curl up, but I knew that every second I wasted, Naruto could be balled up under some over-piled sand dune, dying slowly. As I thought more and more about how painful it must be for Naruto to just leave like that, with nothing to help him survive, I started wondering how I got this way in the first place. Why do I care? Why do tears blur my vision when I worry about Naruto?
I plopped down on top of a sand dune, holding my jacket close and staring at my feet. Though I wanted rest, I couldn't get to sleep with all of this fretting, so I was just going to have to sit and worry until I ran out of things to worry about. Or at least until I assured myself he was fine.
I couldn't bring myself to imagine Naruto in a cozy house, with food and someone to help him until I found him. Nonstop, I imagined him freezing to death in some kind of ice land, or dehydrating in the middle of a desert with no end. My heart sped up a few beats and I closed my eyes, tears welling. "What if he's dead?"I told myself, then shook my head and gently cried myself to sleep.